What Leadership Can do to Hedge Against a Downturn

“It is nice to be on a growing team” lamented a friend working at a Fortune 500, a once great company now facing a very unstable future.

Have you been in an organization like this? A once thriving organization where there was security, camaraderie and interesting projects to work on? But then going to work became an absolute grind and you missed the old days.

Working for a organization that is losing revenue, members or marketshare is awful. There are less resources to work with. Less members to work for. There is more fear which constricts thinking. The staff has less options, less hope and less fun.

Attentions turn inward. Instead of trying to delight members we worry about keeping our jobs. Instead of giving members the best experience we pinch pennies. Instead of being open to new ideas we imagine that every new venture will send the organization off into the abyss. Why are we surprised then when every metric continues to decline?

I think organization leaders have two strategies they can employ to avoid the downward spiral:

1. Work everyday to solve members’ most pressing problems and by doing that the organization will become better.

2. Make staff safe during a downturn so they can continue to solve members’ most pressing problems.